1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to convertible wheelchairs, and more particularly, to a wheelchair apparatus that enables a person sitting in the wheelchair to convert the wheelchair to a reclined position or gurney by activating motor controls thereby enabling the person to independently transfer from the wheelchair to a bed.
2. Description of Related Art
The nursing industry is a leading occupation suffering from back injury due to continual bending down and lifting of patients which puts a strain on a person's lower back: this is verified by multiple studies performed over the past years. This statistic leads to the need for a wheelchair that can assist in the reorienting of a patient from a seated position to a fully reclined position level with a bed. The patient can transfer with or without assistance from the reclined position of the wheelchair to the bed and vice versa. The convertible wheelchair alleviates the need for continual bending down to move the patient in and out of bed. More significant is the ability for a patient in a home environment to be able to get in and out of bed without the need of assistance by a nurse or a caretaker.
The convertible wheelchair is not only beneficial for the nurses but for the patients as well. The patient would not have to be subject to awkward liftings by nursing personnel. It would provide patients with some dignity because they would not have to endure any embarrassment associated with having to be lifted to get in and out of bed.
A convertible wheelchair in the long term will allow members of the nursing community to have longer careers due to the decrease of strain placed on their lower backs. Although this device would alleviate the need to bend down and pick up a patient when placing them in a bed or gurney, it does not eliminate all the lifting duties of the nurses, because they will still be required to assist the patients to their feet or transfer patients from wheelchair to regular chair or wheelchair to toilet.
There are a number of inventions in the prior art that combine a wheelchair and a gurney function as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,200 issued Mar. 5, 1991 to R. J. Earls discloses a combination wheelchair-gurney apparatus including a pivoting back rest and footrest which permit the wheelchair to be transformed into a gurney and vice versa. An additional wheel assembly is required to provide support for the back rest when the apparatus is in the gurney position. The wheelchair has large rear wheels to enable the user to self-propel the wheelchair. The apparatus requires at least one caregiver to participate in the process of converting the wheelchair to a gurney and to participate in the process of transferring a patient from the gurney to a bed, whereas in the present invention, the design enables many patients, if physically capable, to perform the conversion alone.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,887 issued Aug. 2, 1994 to H. M. Luther discloses a combination wheelchair/gurney having a three-part seat/gurney bed assembly, hingedly connected and pivotally mounted on a rigid metal rectangular frame, having two large side wheels for patient self-locomotion and two front caster wheels, and a seat supporter/locking position mechanism which carries most of the seat weight and is pivotally mounted to the frame bottom. The wheelchair converts to a gurney, but requires an attendant to pull back and downward on the top back of the chair in a levered action. The present invention can be converted from a chair to a gurney by a person in the wheelchair using an electric switch on the wheelchair.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0193166, published Oct. 16, 2003, discloses a convertible wheelchair with a lift module for engaging and elevating the convertible wheelchair whereby the wheelchair can be converted to any one of several examination configurations. However, the wheelchair has to be attached to and detached from the lift module which would be a difficult task for a disabled user of the wheelchair compared to the convertible wheelchair of the present invention that does not require such attaching and detaching of another device such as the lift module.